With 51-something-second laps around the shortest track on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park is often a treat.
“I really like the track, which I ran for the first-time racing with Cooper [MacNeil] last year,” said Jules Gounon, driver of the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG in GTD PRO with Daniel Juncadella. “There are a lot of fans that surround the track on the outside and inside, so it gives a feel like you are racing in an arena. I don’t know of any other track that is this short. Since it is GT only, Lime Rock and VIR is our only chances during the season to take an overall win without the prototype cars on the track.”
Last year’s contest, as always in recent years a GT-only affair around the 1.474-mile, seven-turn circuit known as the “Bullring,” turned on a last-lap fuel pump issue for the leading Winward Racing, and the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow came through for the GTD victory while the Pfaff Motorsports duo of Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet were again dominating GTD PRO up front in the No. 9 Porsche.
That was one of the races that helped Snow and Sellers earn the Sprint Cup Championship in 2022. A year later, they go into the Lime Rock race with a greater-than-200-point lead in the overall championship (and leading the Sprint Cup as well) in what has so far been a phenomenal season that includes three victories and a second-place salvaged out of near disaster at Watkins Glen. The points leaders and defending Lime Rock winners certainly come into the race as favorites, but Heart of Racing was strong in this race last year as well, and the team’s Marco Sorensen and Roman De Angelis are looking to make up ground in the championship chase.
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In GTD PRO, Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth are looking to get back on form and start a new podium streak after their last one ended at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park two weeks ago. Having seen a big chunk of their championship lead for Vasser Sullivan Lexus disappear with a punctured radiator, they’d like to regain the dominant form that had, up until then, seen them score two wins, two seconds and a third.
That punctured radiator, though, was a boon to the pursuing teams in GTD PRO. WeatherTech Racing’s Juncadella and Gounon are 96 points behind Hawksworth and Barnicoat, and it’s only a 13-point gap back to Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in third place for Corvette Racing. With five races left for the GT classes, this one is pretty wide open, and Lime Rock could prove pivotal.
With no prototypes in the mix, the only battle between classes comes in cars that are identical, only the driver lineups making the distinction. Those battles have been interesting this season with the new rule that allows either GTD driver to qualify (previously the requirement was that the Silver- or Bronze-rated driver qualify and start the race). That has led to a generally greater intermingling of the classes, and has often produced GTD overall winners.
“This is a very intense and physical race usually,” noted Corvette’s Garcia. “It’s so hard to pass and if we are stuck behind GTDs, especially early, then it can be a long and frustrating day. This race is all about track position, so we need to arrive at the track with everything right on our Corvette so we can start fine-tuning immediately. That will be the easiest and best way to start toward the front and hopefully stay there.”
Because of the local law that doesn’t allow racing at Lime Rock on Sunday, the 2h40m FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix runs under a compressed schedule of two days. Two practices and qualifying will take place on Friday, qualifying happening at 5:40pm ET, where all 20 entries will be on track at once. IMSA.tv will carry coverage.
The race is scheduled for a green flag at 12:10pm ET on Saturday. Live coverage begins on USA Network at noon, and will be streamed on Peacock as well. The WeatherTech Championship is accompanied by the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, which will have two races, and the Michelin Pilot Challenge, where the TCR class gets its own race after the GS class competed alone at Detroit.